A Few Crouts, a Few Englishmen, and a lot of Good
by hipsterness202
Summary: Micheal and His brother survived when the German officers tried to kill them. Now they are making their way through miles of enemy territory to reach america. Sorry I spelled Micheal wrong, but if there are any other corrections, be sure to let me know.


_**A few Gents, A few croutes , and a lot of Good men**_

By Hope Burnside

The whistling of the missiles and the monstrous bang of the mortars on that small French village could still be heard, but Micah and Gunther were now a good three hundred meters away from it. Gunther looked over his shoulder in the direction of the noise, only to find he could no longer see the village. A thick fog was rolling in, one that would allow both brothers to travel on the road without being seen. Micah's bullet wound, one given by the Germans for deserting, had been reopened when the bridge had exploded and had knocked him backwards a few feet, and dealt him a hard blow. He was quickly losing his strength and was leaning on his older brother, Gunther, heavily. His head was bobbing, his feet were dragging on the dirt road, and both of them were shaking from the cold.

"We should stop for a moment" whispered Gunther "maybe get an hours sleep under those trees?". Micah nodded, so Gunther led him down into a large Pine grove on the side of the road, and set him gently under a tree. Both brothers rapidly fell into a dreamy sleep.

It was before the war. Before they had lost Mama. Before Papa lost it. A younger Micah, maybe 12, was peeling potatoes on the little wooden table in the middle of their small farm house. Gunther walked in, clad in a coat and tie. He was going to the university, by payment of scholarship, where he was learning English, French, and many other languages. Mama looked up from her cooking and smiled a beautiful smile. But the dream quickly turned colder.

Now Micah was 13 and Gunther was 18. Their Mama had died and the university had closed, due to the war. They were in the enlistment line in town. Their Papa signed them both up for the Army, and lied about Micah's age. He was supposed to be 18.

There was a swirl of color and Gunther found himself again in a dark memory. Micah was packing his things, headed for the front line. Gunther kept talking to him trying to convince him to sneak out. Suddenly, they were running for it, Micah on his stolen horse, and Gunther on his. They were running west, away from Germany, and away from their home.

The dream changed one last time, with Gunther and Micah standing next to each other. Gunther whispered "I'm so sorry" and Micah whispered back "don't blame yourself". That was all they could say when the german officers pulled the triggers on their guns, but only Micah fell. The head officer came up behind Gunther and said smugly "Your Brother will pay for your mistake, and you shall live with it." Then Gunther woke.

The Chug chug chug of an automobile engine stopping brought Gunther to his senses. He looked to his right, and saw a very pale and fevered Micah. He wasn't conscious, though, and for that Gunther was thankful. The fear Gunther felt from the unidentified automobile would have killed Micah for sure.

Through the blinding brightness of the headlights, walked an old French Gentleman, around fifty or so. He was dressed up nice in a sweater vest and a long heavy coat.

The old man called out "It's alright Roland, you can come down. They look more scared of us, then we are of them." At that point, not only did Roland come down, but two other fellows. One was younger than the other Gents, his hair was longer and he was skinnier too. He couldn't of been a day over twenty. The other two were somewhat overweight, but held themselves high, and dressed very respectively, much like the first man.

Gunther instinctively knelt in front of his younger brother, trying to shield him from the strangers. The First man saw the fear in Gunther's eyes, and he raised his hands and said "We won't hurt you son, we just hear noises, like screams and we came to find out what it was. "

Another one of the older fellows eased forward speaking at the same time. "You friend, he is hurt. Denis here is a doctor; he might be able to help." Gunther was suddenly very thankful for the French classes he took at the University back in Germany. He couldn't understand their every word, but they got the point across. He slowly stood up and stepped aside, giving his brother one last glance before the man called Denis came over and started to take off Micah's coat. The first old man came behind Gunther and put a hand on hid shoulder, gesturing for him to sit down on a nearby log. Despite his recent sleep, he was still tired and was more than happy to oblige.

"Whats your name son?" he asked soothingly

"Gunther" he said, barely audible, but the man heard, because he then replied

" nice to meet you Gunther, I'm Richard. This here fellow is my apprentice, Christophe." He chattered, pointing to the younger man. "Where are you from Gunther?"

"Germany" Gunther debated his answer, but couldn't think of anything else to tell them, especially since they were in German uniform.

` " Who is your Friend, Gunther?" Richard inquired.

" My little brother. Micah." I was starting to get a little shaky. The army trained me to not tell strangers any information, and these guys were asking a lot of questions. Denis, who had been busy prodding and poking at Micah's bare and bloody chest, stood up and looked at Richard.

"This wound is infected" he stated " it needs to be treated quickly, but I cannot do it here. Can we bring them to your place Richard? It is the closest."

Richard did not even think twice. He took off his long heavy jacket and wrapped it around Micah. Then, Christophe and Denis picked him up and loadedhim into Richard's automobile. Gunther wanted to ride with his Brother, but there was no room, so he had to ride in The third old gentelman's was a quiet ride.

The Place was huge. It was a yellow house, with an oak front door. There were hedges lining the driveway, and a broad porch with circular pillars all along the edge. Richard had Micah put in a guest bedroom, and everything Denis would need brought up to that bedroom. There was a small bed right next to the door and a long table on the other side of the room. Besides a small wooden trunk, the room was otherwise empty, and Denis preferred as few people as possible in the workspace, so the rest of the folks were all downstairs. Micah Began to wake when Denis was pouring brandy on the wound. His eyes fluttered open and he looked straight into the face of a stranger. A very old and very scary stranger. He tried to get up, but the pain sent him right back down, and he yelped in spite of himself. Poor Denis jumped back, and landed on his bottom, with brandy flying everywhere. Micah tried to get up again, to get out of this strangers house, and to find Gunther. "Gunter!" he yelled, frantic to find his older brother. "Gunther!" Micah was out of the bed now, but leaning heavily on the door knob. He slipped open the door, and fell face first into his brother.

elliRichard, Gunther, Christophe, and the unknown fellow, who must have been Roland, were sitting in Mr. Richard's den. It was a simple room , much like the spare bedroom, with only a little couch, and three wooden chairs. There was a small table in the middle of the room with delicate flowers painted onto it. They were all drinking water, and every one of them was staring at Gunther. On the way to Richard's house, Denis had said that Gunther was probably in shock, so he should drink water, and that they should not ask any more questions. The awkward silence continued until a small yelp and loud bang could be heard upstairs, followed by someone yng in German. Gunther was up the stairs in a flash and reached the door to the spare bedroom just in time to catch his brother from falling right on his face He caught him, but slid to the ground with him in his arms. He began to talk to Micah in German, however none of the others could understand.

"Shhhhh. Micah it is Okay. These people are here to help they won't hurt you."

"Don't leave me, Gunther. I thought for a second you were dead."

Gunther Turned to the others and said "let me stay with him, he did not understand what was going on. He was scared."

Denis allowed Gunther in the room for the sake of his rear end. When he had finished cleaning the wound, and gave Micah a pill to make him sleep, he left the two brothers in peace. That is how Richard found them in the morning; Micah asleep in the bed, and Gunther asleep in the chair next it him, holding his younger brother's hand.


End file.
